Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

South Sudan: Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of attacks on Abyei town on 27 January, attacks on Awolnhom, Minyang, Kadian and Abathok villages on 3 and 4 February, and killings and abductions in Rumamer County from 10 January to 14 February, what is their assessment of the capacity of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei at its current troop level to protect civilians in the Abyei administrative area.

Lord Benyon: United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei's (UNISFA) mandate was renewed in November last year and amended to better equip the mission to respond quickly to security incidents and to place greater emphasis on community engagement. The UK has used its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to urge both the government of South Sudan and the Sudanese authorities to ensure UNISFA can fully and effectively implement its mandate, in line with the their responsibility as host states. The extension of the UNISFA mandate from six to twelve months will also better enable the mission to develop longer-term strategies.

South Sudan: Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the humanitarian situation in Abyei town following internal displacement within the Abyei area, and what support they will offer to enable voluntary returns to villages in central and northern Abyei.

Lord Benyon: The people of Abeyi have suffered from terrible conflict and are now feeling the impact of climate change. We are working with the UN and humanitarian organisations in Sudan and South Sudan to address their humanitarian needs. We also continue to call on the Government of South Sudan and the Sudanese authorities to allow humanitarian actors to deliver aid in all parts of Abyei, without hindrance.

Developing Countries: Hygiene and Water

Lord Leigh of Hurley: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support healthcare facilities in developing countries to have clean water, decent toilets and better hygiene, as a cost-effective means for reducing the global infectious disease burden.

Lord Benyon: The UK is committed to supporting access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities, as part of our approach to Ending Preventable Deaths. Our £18.5m WASH Systems for Health programme will support governments in low- and lower-middle income countries to develop stronger systems crucial to the delivery of sustainable and climate resilient WASH services - a vital part of reducing the global infectious disease burden. Additionally, the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition, funded by the UK, trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements, and supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies.

North Korea: Weapons

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to impose further sanctions on North Koreanofficials and entities under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, including those who have been involved in the supply of weapons to Russia.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK remains concerned by the appalling human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] made clear during the House of Lords Debate on 14 December 2023. The Global Human Rights sanctions regime gives the UK a powerful tool that we can use to tackle human rights violations and abuses and underpins the UK's role as a force for good in global affairs, and we continue to keep further listings under review. On 22 February, the UK sanctioned five individuals and entities involved in DPRK-Russia weapons transfers. The DPRK is already subject to a robust sanctions regime and the UK will continue to work with our partners to hold the DPRK to account for supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.

Afghanistan: Hazara

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Hazara Inquiry's recommendation to bring proceedings against Afghanistan for its violations of the Genocide Convention with regard to the Hazara in Afghanistan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Inquiry's report has done much to raise awareness of the situation of Hazaras in Afghanistan. FCDO officials have noted the report's recommendations and will continue to closely monitor the situation of Hazaras in Afghanistan. In line with the report's recommendations, we are documenting discrimination and abuses against Hazaras, both through the UN and other institutions, and through our own programme work.More broadly, officials from the UK Mission to Afghanistan regularly press Taliban acting ministers and Afghan officials to protect religious and ethnic minorities, including Shia Muslims and Hazara communities.

Afghanistan and Iran: Women

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government howthey are highlighting the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran, whetherthey are engaging with Afghan and Iranian women or organisations supporting them, and what practical stepsthey are taking in doing so.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK has repeatedly condemned the oppressive measures faced by women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran, though the situation for women and girls in each country is different. In September, the Foreign Secretary hosted a roundtable with Iranian women's rights defenders, as part of our visible support in their call for change. On 11 March, I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] spoke at an event on Afghanistan as part of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. We will continue to engage with women from both countries.

Afghanistan: Hazara

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of human rights in Afghanistan, published on 29 February 2024, and his findings of specific targeting of the Hazara community in Afghanistan, including at least seven attacks carried out against Shia Muslims of Hazara ethnicity between September 2023 and January 2024.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government notes the UN Special Rapporteur's latest report and its recommendations. The Government works closely with the international community, including the G7, G20 and through the UN, to promote and protect the human rights of all Afghans, and to coordinate a consistent international response. In December, I [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon] raised recent attacks against Hazaras with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Artificial Intelligence

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the risks posed by the use of artificial intelligence in the gambling industry, particularly (1) problem gambling, (2) addiction, and (3) mental health issues.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Gambling Commission, Great Britain’s statutory regulator, continues to monitor industry developments in artificial intelligence, informed by the expertise of its Digital Advisory Panel. This includes the exploration and consideration of the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning by gambling operators, and engagement with the industry better to understand their uses of AI. The Gambling Commission will continue to increase its capacity and capability to deploy data science in its regulation through the formation of a new Data Innovation Hub.All gambling operators which provide gambling services to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission, and must comply with its codes of practice. The social responsibility code requires them to have and to put into effect policies and procedures to promote socially responsible gambling. These should reduce the risk of, and seek to identify those struggling with, problem gambling. The Gambling Commission has the power to remove an operating licence where a gambling business is deploying AI in a manner that undermines the statutory licensing objectives and duties.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: Pesticides

Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (1) does not weaken domestic pesticide standards in terms of active substance approvals or maximum residue levels, and (2) does not undermine the precautionary principle with regards to pesticides.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The UK has not lowered its standards in order to accede to CPTPP. All food and drink products imported into the UK, irrespective of the purpose for which they will be used, must comply with our import requirements and regulatory standards for food safety. This includes pesticide active substance approvals and maximum residue levels (MRLs). The UK Government supports the precautionary principle. This is expressly a part of our plant protection product regime and is also incorporated into the Environment Act through the Environmental Principles that the Government must consider when making new policy.

Angling: Licensing

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government how many successful prosecutions by the Environment Agency there were for fishing without a licence in England in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller: In addition to prosecution, the Environment Agency will use other enforcement outcomes that include formal cautions, warning letters and issuing advice and guidance. The table below provides the numbers of these used alongside prosecutions between 2019 to 2023. Final Action Taken20192020202120222023Grand TotalAdvice and Guidance Total2615916711478679Caution Total1132525457311762141Warning Letter Total18210223814473382307Prosecutions (Successful) Total18764647283792503697Grand Total24326501387251318428824 The total number of successful prosecutions is higher (+498) than the table above if you include fisheries byelaw offences such as fishing in the close season. Please see the table below for all prosecutions and enforcement actions. Final Action Taken20192020202120222023Grand TotalAdvice and Guidance2696216711679693Caution 1232927657911852192Warning Letter 19111026514613622389Prosecutions (Successful)20574948184833434195Grand Total 26406951526263919699469

Beef: Production

Lord Framlingham: To ask His Majesty's Government whatestimate they have made of the fall in overall domestic beef production resulting from the proposed changes in agricultural policies and payments.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The British beef sector is highly resilient and plays a significant role in the production of high- quality meat for both the domestic market and for export. It operates in an open market and the value of commodities is established by those in the supply chain. The government continues to work closely with the beef industry and to monitor the impacts of the range of commercial, environmental and market related factors which influence a farmer’s decision to rear beef. The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK.  UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production. Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

Leader of the House of Lords

House of Lords: Select Committees

Lord Watts: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on civil servants giving evidence to House of Lords committees, and under what circumstances a request for such evidence may be declined.

Lord True: The Government, including the Civil Service, is committed to being as accommodating as possible when requests are made by Select Committees. The Cabinet Office has dedicated guidance for Civil Servants about giving evidence to House of Lords Select Committees. Officials will always carefully consider requests to give evidence. When they do accept such invitations, they require Ministerial agreement and are there to represent the Minister's views.In the event that a Select Committee requests a named civil servant from a department and the department feels that they are not the most appropriate person to represent the Minister, the department has the right to suggest an alternative to the Committee. There may be rare examples where the Department and Ministers feel an official is unable to attend, but the guidance is clear that if a Department considers it is unable to meet any requests from the Select Committee, they should inform the Committee as soon as practicably possible and set out the reasons why.As Leader of the House of Lords, I have made it clear to my Ministerial Colleagues, that Ministers in both Houses should make every effort to facilitate Select Committee requests, including evidence session attendance.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Freeports

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government how many freeports have been announced for each country of the United Kingdom in the past 10 years; and where they are located.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Information on the number of Freeports announced in the United Kingdom in the last ten years and their locations can be found at the following link.Following discussions with stakeholders in Northern Ireland about how best to deliver the benefits associated with Freeports and Investment Zones there, the government announced at the Spring Budget that we will establish an Enhanced Investment Zone offer in Northern Ireland with £150 million in funding, able to be used flexibly across spending and tax levers.Freeport (pdf, 551.2KB)

Refugees: Ukraine

Lord Wigley: To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees from Ukraine have been settled in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: As of 5 March 2024, 201,400 people have arrived in the UK under the Ukraine visa schemes, rather than as refugees. 144,400 of them have been sponsored under the Homes for Ukraine scheme with 108,601 being in England, 1,500 in Northern Ireland, 5,847 in Scotland and 4,200 in Wales.In addition to this, 20,882 Ukrainians have been sponsored by the Scottish Government and another 3,291 by the Welsh Government. Further information including a full breakdown of the data has been published on Gov.UK and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority. Ukraine sponsorship scheme (pdf, 641.0KB)

Buildings: Safety

Lord Stunell: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the number of building control officers fully accredited to deliver the new building safety regime when it comes into effect on 1 April, and (2) the capacity ofsuch building controlofficers to fully enforce that regime across each relevant local authority from that date.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 16272 on 5 March 2024. PQ 16272 (pdf, 60.3KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Mental Health Services: Hospital Beds

Lord Bradley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 12 March (HL3021), what is the distribution of each category of commissioned mental health service bed into each integrated care board area.

Lord Markham: NHS England does not hold this data at an integrated care board level.

Care Homes

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government how many registered (1) residential care homes, and (2) nursing homes, there are in England; and what are the numbers of residents in each category.

Lord Markham: The following table shows the number of care homes with and without nursing, and the number of beds for both categories, taken from the Care Quality Commission’s registration data from March 2024: Number of care homes in EnglandNumber of beds in EnglandCare homes without nursing10,473234,198Care homes with nursing4,250221,766Total14,723455,964 The published data does not break down the number of residents in each category.

Abortion: Bone Diseases and Down's Syndrome

Lord Shinkwin: To ask His Majesty's Government how many pregnancy terminations have been carried out on grounds of a diagnosis of (1) Downs Syndrome, or (2) Brittle Bones, in each of the past five years.

Lord Markham: We are unable to provide the data requested for 2022 and 2023 as these statistics have not yet been published. Abortion statistics for 2022 are provisionally scheduled to be published in May 2024. The date of publication of abortion statistics for 2023 will be announced in due course.The following table shows information on the number of pregnancy terminations carried out on grounds of a diagnosis of Downs Syndrome or congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system between 2019 and 2021:YearICD-10 codeConditionNumber of mentions2019Q90Down's syndrome6562020Q90Down's syndrome6932021Q90Down's syndrome8592019Q65 to Q79Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system3572020Q65 to Q79Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system4432021Q65 to Q79Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system486Source: NHS EnglandNotes:The number of mentions is the number of times a particular condition has been listed under Ground E.ICD-10 codes are taken from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health problems (Tenth Revision) published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).ICD-10 codes Q65 to Q79 (Congenital malformations and deformations of the musculoskeletal system) includes Q78.0 which is the ICD10 code for osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones).To protect patient confidentiality, we are unable to provide the number of mentions for osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones). Instead, we have provided the number of mentions for congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system, which may include mentions of osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones), for the same period.

Gastrointestinal Cancer: Diagnosis

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure NHS England is meeting the Faster Diagnosis Standard for lower gastrointestinal cancer referrals.

Lord Markham: The Department is taking steps to achieve the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), which aims to ensure people with cancer or suspected cancer, including lower gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, are diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of referral. The Department is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 related backlogs in elective care, which includes plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment.To achieve the FDS target specifically, NHS England has implemented a timed pathway for lower GI cancer, by requiring faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) for patients in primary and secondary care settings on a suspected lower GI cancer pathway. FIT testing prevents patients from having unnecessary colonoscopies, freeing up capacity for these procedures and ensuring the most urgent symptomatic patients are seen more quickly. Across 2022/2023 the proportion of lower GI referrals with a related FIT test rose from 24% to 69%.NHS England is also implementing non symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations of non-specific symptoms, that can indicate several different cancers, including symptoms that may indicate lower GI cancers.In addition, at the 2021 Spending Review the Government awarded £2.3 billion to transform diagnostic services from 2022 to 2025, most of which will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, prioritising CDCs for cancer services. General practice teams have also been given direct access to tests like computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasounds, helping to cut waiting times and speed up the diagnosis of, or ruling out of, cancer. This funding is also being used to expand endoscopy capacity within acute settings and in CDCs.

Dentistry: Migrant Workers

Baroness Quin: To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to employing refugees who are qualified dentists to help alleviate the backlog in NHS dentistry.

Lord Markham: The General Dental Council (GDC), which is responsible for the regulation and registration of dentists, has advised that it is keen to support refugees with their registration applications wherever possible. Dedicated information for refugees can be found on the GDC’s website, in an online only format.

Health Services: Children

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the finding by the NHS Confederation that there has been a 26 per cent cut to the public health grant per person in real terms since 2015–16; and what plans they have to ensure that every baby and young child in England can receive the full Healthy Child Programme.

Lord Markham: At the 2021 Spending Review, we considered the need for local government public health funding, and have provided cash growth in the Public Health Grant to local authorities each year over the settlement period. In 2024/25 the total Public Health Grant to local authorities will be £3.603 billion, providing local authorities with an average 2.1% cash increase compared to 2023/24.In addition to the Public Health Grant, we have provided additional targeted investment to local authorities in England for drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery, and services that support the best start in life. From April 2024 we will also double current spend on stop smoking services, in support of our commitment to deliver a smoke-free generation. This overall funding package will deliver a real term increase of more than 4%, over the two years 2023/24 and 2024/25, in Department funding allocated for local authority public health functions.Local authorities are responsible for using their Public Health Grant to provide a Healthy Child Programme that best meet the needs of their local populations. In addition, the health visiting workforce is fundamental to enabling successful delivery of this programme, and as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we will be expanding training places by 74% to over 1,300 by 2031/32. To support progress towards this expansion, training places for health visitors will grow by 17% by 2028/29.

Cabinet Office

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Lord Kempsell: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide an update on their Gov.uk 'One Login' programme; and what is theprogramme’s plan of work over the next year.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The GOV.UK One Login system is fully operational providing a simple and secure way for people to access government services online.Users can create an account, login and prove (and then reuse) their identity - through either a web-based journey, smartphone app or in-person route - to access an initial set of 30 government services. This includes important services such as ‘Request a Disclosure and Barring Service Basic Check’ and ‘Apply for an HM Armed Forces Veteran Card’. More than 3.8 million people have so far proven their identity through GOV.UK One Login, while its app has been downloaded more than 5 million times. GOV.UK One Login’s customer contact centre and technical service desk are now live.Further government services - from HMRC to DWP and DVLA - are due to come on board over the next year. GDS will also continue to optimise GOV.UK One Login’s user journeys, for example by broadening the range of documents and evidence that people can use to prove who they are online.

Treasury

Ministerial Powers

Lord Kempsell: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the number of ministerial directions made in each year since 2010 under the 'Managing Public Money' principles; and whether they will include a figure for unpublished or confidential ministerial directions.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Details of Ministerial Directions can be found on the GOV.UK website[1]. As set out in Managing Public Money, where confidentiality is required, the accounting officer will share the direction request and the direction itself with the chairs of the Committee of Public Accounts and the relevant departmental select committee, along with an explanation of the reasons for requiring confidentiality, and when they expect the need for confidentiality to fall away and publication to take place. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-directions

Home Office

Police: Recruitment

Lord Kempsell: To ask His Majesty's Government, further toThe Angiolini Inquiry: Part 1 Reportpublished on 29 February, whichterritorial and national police forces outsource their recruitment vetting to other police forces or other law enforcement agencies.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: All Home Office (territorial) forces in England and Wales conduct their recruitment vetting internally.This is also the case for all non-Home Office national police forces, aside from the Royal Military Police who are assisted by Warwickshire Police for vetting checks.The Part 1 report of Angiolini’s Inquiry highlighted that in 2010, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary had outsourced its force vetting to Thames Valley Police. They now carry out their own recruitment vetting.

Retail Trade: Crime

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential role of technology in tackling theft and violence in convenience stores across the UK.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, and supports the use of emerging technologies to prevent and detect crime where it is necessary, proportionate, and fair.In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel.The plan encourages the use of technology; where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this as standard through the Police National Database using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.Innovative technologies have huge potential to cut crime and reduce the cost of crime to businesses, as well as making workplaces and communities safer. The Government is keen to support increased adoption of these technologies, to prevent crime, recognising this must be done in a lawful and proportionate way with due consideration given to privacy. We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group to discuss how technology can be used to tackle retail crime.The National Business Crime Centre has been running workshops with retailers and Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) providers to support the use of DEMS to help assist in sharing evidence with the police.

Department for Business and Trade

Iron and Steel: Port Talbot

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the electricity transmission network is sufficient to allow for the replacement of the Port Talbot steel works blast furnaces with electric arc furnaces.

Lord Offord of Garvel: Tata Steel and National Grid have been working closely to ensure the deliverability of a grid connection in line with the project requirements.

Business: Prices and Supply Chains

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking tosafeguard firms from the effects of rising prices and supply chain disruptions.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: This government is committed to ensuring that the UK is a reliable, supportive place to do business where firms can import the goods they need efficiently. At Spring Budget 2024 the government announced measures that continue to support business, including increasing the VAT registration threshold and extending the Recovery Loan Scheme (now named the Growth Guarantee Scheme). Mitigating supply chain disruptions remains a priority for government. In January 2024, the government published the Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy, which will help UK businesses build secure and reliable supply chains and access the goods they need.

Ministry of Defence

Veterans: Radiation Exposure

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byThe Earl of Minto on 4 March (HL2591),on what date the Minister for Defence People and Families intends to visit the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston for the personal assessment of the150 documents held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment concerning blood tests taken from British troops during radiation experiments.

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byThe Earl of Minto on 4 March (HL2591),why it is not possible for the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston to facilitate the delivery of the 150 nuclear test veteran documents to a secure ministerial office within the Ministry of Defence for review by theMinister for Defence People and Families.

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byThe Earl of Minto on 4 March (HL2591, HL2592), whether they will list the defence Ministersrestricted from accessing the 150 relevant documents held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston.

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by The Earl of Minto on 4 March (HL2591, HL2592),whether theywill list the security classification of the 150 documents.

The Earl of Minto: The Minister for Defence People and Families (Dr Andrew Murrison) will visit the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) shortly to personally review the information and consider its release into the public domain. Given the volume of documents to be reviewed it was considered more practical for the Minister to visit AWE. There are no restrictions on Ministers accessing these records with the Minister for Defence People and Families the most appropriate given his responsibility for veteran’s affairs. The documents had a variety of security classifications and are now declassified.

Israel: RAF Akrotiri

Baroness Janke: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have instructed Israel not to land its F-35s at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus until hostilities in Gaza have concluded.

The Earl of Minto: No instruction has been provided because there are no standing agreements in place to use RAF Akrotiri. Permission for state-operated aircraft to utilise UK air bases is dependent on the nature and purpose of their activity, and each request is considered on a case by case basis.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Business: Cybersecurity

Lord Browne of Ladyton: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support businesses seeking to adopt process improvement programmes for their organisational cyber-resilience.

Viscount Camrose: The government is inviting views on a proposed Cyber Governance Code of Practice until 19th March. This is part of a package of action in the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy to drive up improvements in organisational cyber resilience. Co-designed with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and industry experts, the Code consolidates critical cyber governance areas for directors' ownership. As part of this package, the NCSC revised their Board Toolkit (BTK) and intends to develop an online Cyber Governance Training Pack for Boards, integrating the Code and BTK. This comprehensive package will help boards ensure that cyber resilience is embedded throughout their organisation, including its people and processes.